Presented by IsraFest Foundation, Inc., the Israel Film Festival runs Saturday through Thursday, May 4 through 9, at Landmark’s Century Centre and Renaissance Place, 1850 Second, Highland Park. Tickets for most programs are $9, $6 for seniors and children under 11; weekday shows before 6 are $6. Festival passes, good for five screenings, not including special events, are $36. For more information call 877-966-5566. Unless otherwise noted, all films are in Hebrew with subtitles; films marked with an * are highly recommended.
Besame Mucho
Buchachi
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The TV series Voices From the Heartland, which depicts regional Israeli life, broadcast this 52-minute film about a timid and unassuming cook on an air force base (Moshe Folkenflik). Leader of the kitchen staff by virtue of seniority, Buchachi has always accepted the pecking order on the base and tolerated the taunts of the regular military. A new recruit teaches the chief cook to stand up for himself, but ultimately the newcomer isn’t the person he’s presented to everyone. Although too predictable at times, this modest little film acquits itself honorably in capturing the ennui of military life and the frustration of being stuck in a menial job that everyone else takes for granted. (Joshua Katzman) (Landmark’s Century Centre, 1:00)
A philandering playwright leaves his wife and his three children, one of whom uses his new video camera to document the family’s dissolution. Directed for television by Uri Barbash. 100 min. (Landmark’s Century Centre, 3:00)
Rutenberg
See listing for Saturday, May 4. (Renaissance Place, 9:45)
